Pls explain some of your food to an ignorant foreigner :o)

[aussiegirls]

Hi all,

I have been perusing menus etc and some of the food I am beginning to think is not actually what I think it is.

Like, what is a biscuit? Where I am from a biscuit is a sweet thing, maybe like what you would call a cookie. But I notice a lot of savoury meals seem to come with a biscuit. As in bacon and eggs with a biscuit. Doesn't make sense to me so I think it may not be what I think it is.

What is a pretzel? Over here pretzels are small (about the size of a coin) savoury cracker type things that come in a bag, like a bag of chips. I don't think they are the same over there are they?

Finally (for now anyway) what is candy corn? Seeing as we will be there over Halloween (don't have that here either) there has been much discussion about many candy corn decorations but I have no idea what that is, is it actually corn? Could someone please explain.

TIA

xxxx

 

[kylieh]

Hi all,

I have been perusing menus etc and some of the food I am beginning to think is not actually what I think it is.

Like, what is a biscuit? Where I am from a biscuit is a sweet thing, maybe like what you would call a cookie. But I notice a lot of savoury meals seem to come with a biscuit. As in bacon and eggs with a biscuit. Doesn't make sense to me so I think it may not be what I think it is.

What is a pretzel? Over here pretzels are small (about the size of a coin) savoury cracker type things that come in a bag, like a bag of chips. I don't think they are the same over there are they?

Finally (for now anyway) what is candy corn? Seeing as we will be there over Halloween (don't have that here either) there has been much discussion about many candy corn decorations but I have no idea what that is, is it actually corn? Could someone please explain.

TIA

xxxx

I might be able to help with an Aussie perspective.

Candy Corn - my description would be a sugar lolly, shaped like a corn kernel. Wasn't as sweet as a Milko or Redskin (for our US friends, these are Australian lollies.) Hard to describe. Worth a try. DD liked them, I wasn't a fan, nor was DH.

Pretzel - Bigger than what we have, bread like and it was gooey. Here's a stroy about them.. Back when Sydney hosted the Olympics DH was doing some work for one of the US TV Networks. They asked him while he was out to get some pretzels. So he did. The Australian type as described in your post. They were like "What the...."

The US Biscuit??????

 

[tink2dw]

Hi! A biscuit is a bread item, from the early days of settlements here. The southern states claim it, but so does any cook who needs to fill hungery stomachs! My Swedish Grandmother's biscuits had my Danish Grandfather marring her, to whisk her away from the farm where she cooked for a dozen hunger ranch hands.

An american biscuit is made from flour, butter, baking podwer, and milk, barely stired together so as not to over work the dough, cut in squares, and Bake at 375°F until brown (about 10-13 min).

They come out hot, and flaky ready for butter or jam or honey.

And as many cooks as there are, there are many different recipes for biscuits!! Check out the page
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?s_type=/recipes.php&q=biscuits&Search=Search&Searcht=Search

 

[chickyann]

Just another Aussie perspective for you

Candy Corn = small corn kernal shaped 'lolly' that I think tastes like marzipan, I'm not a huge fan

Biscuit = no not a cookie, but bread roll type thingy, looks like a scone.

Pretzel = giant pretzels, not as crunchy as our mini pretzels

 

[21yankees]

I thought some pictures might help.

Here's a biscuit

These are also known as soft pretzels. They are tasty with mustard, cheese sauce, or pizza sauce.

Candy Corn.

A candy corn decoration at DLR

Hope these help. I'm a huge fan of all of the above.

Steph

 

[tink2dw]

We have a soft bread dough pretzels that are as big as your hand. They usually come salted a with course salt. They are eaten with mustard or melted cheddar cheese.

But they have evolved into sweet treats as well in flavors like cinnamon, with a frosting dipping sauce, raisin, carmel.

And in DTD at Wetzels Pretzels you can get a pretzel dog, a hot dog wrapped with prezel dough!! yummy with melted cheddar cheese!

 

[LavenderPeach]

I have another comment about the pretzels. We also have the little crunchy pretzels that come in a bag like chips like you were thinking of. Those are very common here and if you were at a grocery store and asked for pretzels, that is what they would give you. But in the context of DLR or any other theme park or maybe a sporting event or a fair, if someone asked for a pretzel, they would most likely mean a soft pretzel. I think it's all in the context. Oh and soft pretzels are really yummy. Sometimes they come with too much salt but you can easily brush off any extra that you don't want.

Biscuits are yummy too. They are often served with fried chicken but can go with lots of other dishes too and, like in your description, can be served with breakfast.

Candy corn is okay. There's not really a big flavor to them, they're just very sweet. They're fun for halloween though.

 

[teatime]

Om my gosh, when I met a lady from Australia she told me her favorite foods Vegemite? muske sticks ,she sent these to me. very weird tasting stuff

 

[rossip]

So then what is a breakfast biscuit ? Is that just the bread roll thingy ?

Don't think I will be trying too many of those corn candy things

 

[nunzia]

..and you didn't ask but a Churro is like a long star shaped doughnut dusted with sugar/cinnamon and not to be missed! And a corn dog is a hot dog coated with a thick corn meal based batter and deep fried..also not to be missed

 

[tinkermell]

So then what is a breakfast biscuit ? Is that just the bread roll thingy ?

Don't think I will be trying too many of those corn candy things

A breakfast biscuit will have eggs, bacon and cheese in the middle, like a sandwich. Or sometimes sausage is used instead of bacon.

Whitewater Snacks at the Grand California has some really good ones!! And they are huge!!

 

[HydroGuy]

Make sure you know what "chips" are before you order them.

 

[laura&fam]

So then what is a breakfast biscuit ? Is that just the bread roll thingy ?

Don't think I will be trying too many of those corn candy things

I used to love candy corn as a kid, but since I got older I realized that they are basically shaped, colored, unflavored sugar. My kids love them now. I think it's a kid thing.

 

[Judy from Boise]

I like candy corn, just in small quantities. I would describe it as colored nougat shaped into a kernel of corn. Corn is symbolic of both our holidays halloween and Thanksgiving, and is only around to buy during the fall.

 

[PinkBudgie]

Well, I never liked candy corns even as a child. They were right down there with those yucky converstion hearts on Valentine's Day and those giant "jelly beans" at Easter. (Not to be confused with a yummy Jelly Belly that actually has flavor! )

And more about pretzels. Sometimes you can find the small, hard, crunchy ones in the store that are covered in chocolate. Now those are good!

 

[aussiegirls]

Wow, thanks guys for your replies, it has clarified things a bit. I am sure I will have a few more to add onto here as time goes on.

Going by descriptions I don't think I am keen to try candy corn, with a taste similar to nougat or marzipan, no thanks, I will leave my share for everyone else

Hydroguy has worried me If I ask for chips what am I going to get?

As for Vegemite and musk sticks - YUMMO!!!!!! I am wondering how I will survive a few weeks without vegemite actually

xxxx

 

[HydroGuy]

Hydroguy has worried me If I ask for chips what am I going to get?

Nothing too different from what you are probably expecting...

 

[kylieh]

Nothing too different from what you are probably expecting...

Chips for us is used in context of where you are. EG

Our "Plutopup or Dagwood Dog and Chips" would be in USA Corndog and Fries
At a service/gas station chips would be as per your picture.
Or in case you weren't confused enough, if it could be both we would ask for either a bag of chips or plain chips/salt and vinegar chips etc or hot chips (fries.)

 

[HydroGuy]

Chips for us is used in context of where you are. EG

Our "Plutopup or Dagwood Dog and Chips" would be in USA Corndog and Fries
At a service/gas station chips would be as per your picture.
Or in case you weren't confused enough, if it could be both we would ask for either a bag of chips or plain chips/salt and vinegar chips etc or hot chips (fries.)

I was expecting the land of Oz would call chips what Americans would call French Fries.

 

[aussiegirls]

We do Hydroguy. We have packets of chips (your crisps) or hot chips (your fries)

One thing I have noticed is that you guys seem to use chips (crisps) as a side dish. That is something we do not do here, they are a snack, not a meal.